Quotes from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

Steven Pressfield ·  368 pages

Rating: (4.1K votes)


“A cavalryman's horse should be smarter than he is. But the horse must never be alowed to know this.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great


“A horse must be a bit mad to be a good cavalry mount, and its rider must be completely so.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great


“This man has conquered the world! What have you done?"
The philosopher replied without an instant's hesitation, "I have conquered the need to conquer the world.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great


“Always attack. Even in defense, attack. The attacking arm possesses the
initiative and thus commands the action. To attack makes men brave; to defend
makes them timorous.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great


“Fame Imperishable and glory that will never die -- that is what we march for!”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great



“Warfare is theatre, I have said, and the essence of theatre is aritifce. What we show, we will not do. What we don't show, we will do.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great


“When deliberating, think in campaigns and not battles; in wars and not
campaigns; in ultimate conquest and not wars.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great


“Every virtue that reaches the exaggeration, is becoming a defect”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great


“From that day, I vowed never to squander a moment's care over the good opinion of others. May they rot in hell. You have heard of my abstemiousness in matters of food and sex. Here is why: I punished myself. If I caught my thoughts straying to another's opinion of me, I sent myself to bed without supper. As for women, I likewise permitted myself none. I missed no few meals, and no small pleasure, before I brought this vice under control.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great


“A cavalryman's horse should be smarter than he is. But the horse must never be allowed to know this.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great



“He's a sturdy fellow, bald as a hen's egg, and like all engineers, practical as a pensioner.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great


“The Band advances to the cadence of the flute, and has no call for retreat. Its code is Stand and Die.”
― Steven Pressfield, quote from The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great


About the author

Steven Pressfield
Born place: in Trinidad
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“I don't need anything else. I get out of bed every morning and face the world because you're in it.”
― Sylvia Day, quote from Reflected in You


“your not alone, Tally. Don't pretend you are”
― Scott Westerfeld, quote from Specials


“And stop doing that,” he said. “Backing away, giving me that look.”
Like you’re scaring me? Maybe you are.”
He stepped back so fast he wobbled and caught himself, and the look on his face—It
vanished in a second, the scowl returning.
I’d never hurt you, Chloe. You should know—” He stopped. Paused. Then wheeled and
started walking away. “Next time? Handle it yourself. I’m done taking care of you.”
― Kelley Armstrong, quote from The Awakening


“I touch your book and dream of our odyssey in the supermarket and feel absurd.”
― Allen Ginsberg, quote from Howl and Other Poems


“Have you ever had so much to say that your mouth closed up tight struggling to harness the nuclear force coalescing within your words? Have you ever had so many thoughts churning inside you that you didn’t dare let them escape in case they blew you wide open? Have you ever been so angry that you couldn’t look in the mirror for fear of finding the face of evil glaring back at you?”
― Ellen Hopkins, quote from Crank


Interesting books

A Hope Undaunted
(3.3K)
A Hope Undaunted
by Julie Lessman
The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety
(8.6K)
The Wisdom of Insecu...
by Alan W. Watts
Blackveil
(9.3K)
Blackveil
by Kristen Britain
The Ox-Bow Incident
(4.3K)
The Ox-Bow Incident
by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
The Wretched of the Earth
(13.3K)
The Wretched of the...
by Frantz Fanon
Two Truths and a Lie
(1.1K)
Two Truths and a Lie
by Ashley Stoyanoff

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.